Comments

Gregory 940am - As a hack keyboard player who doesn't play all that often (I mostly play from fakebooks), I avoid keys like F# major and Eb minor that have lots of black keys. Given that we now have excellent electronic keyboards with awesome actual piano sounds available at different attacks, etc, do you think it's still necessary to write keyboard music in the different key signatures? It would be neat for us occasional players if everything were written in either Cmajor or Aminor, and then we could tweak the expression of it to any key we like or required to play with a group. (I have a full-sized Yamaha Clavinova.) Thoughts?

I have trumpets (and a couple of cornets) in the keys of A, Bb, C, D, piccolo A and Bb. I still have to be prepared to play the key of F# major sometimes no matter what key the trumpet is in.

For a solo synth, there's no reason you can't adjust away from A=440Hz... but once that's done, there will be some damn composer who will get from the Key of A minor to the Key of F# major somehow.

Occasional players can play whatever they like in whatever key they find it, but for those prostitutes who play music for money, even piddlingly small amounts, you play the key you're handed. And the flyspecks on the paper.

Gregory 1047am - I may not have been clear. I don't mind playing the sound of F#, only the fingering that uses 'too many' black keys ;-) And nowhere do I argue that my amateurish desires will be met by the music industry. Although I do appreciate that fakebooks are now available in several popular (read 'easy') keys.

Ooooze at 10:11 - "Brian Dahle is pro cap and trade. He is unquestionably a smart conservative."
Yep - Brian knows which side of the bread the butter is on.https://ballotpedia.org/Brian_Dahle
"Prior to his work as county supervisor, he worked for biomass and hydroelectric power companies and a gold-mining firm."
As usual - follow the money.

"Those detained were involved in the attempted murder of an employee of the Ukrainian defense ministry's intelligence service...in Kiev in April," said Matios, adding the group had planted a bomb beneath the man's car which had gone off prematurely, badly injuring one of the accused.

The SBU released a video of the same incident which showed a man placing the bomb under a car before a big explosion. The video showed a man lying in a hospital bed with part of his right arm missing saying he was Russian and born in Moscow.

And lets not forget who we are dealing with, the soviet is back in the saddle -

A record 70 percent of Russians approve of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s role in Russian history, according to a poll published by the independent Levada Center pollster on Tuesday.

Stalin’s image has been gradually rehabilitated in the 2000s from that of a bloody autocrat to an “outstanding leader.” President Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet anthem, Soviet-style military parades and a Soviet-era medal for labor during his presidency.

Now middle-aged, the enfant terrible novelist Bret Easton Ellis, has turned to nonfiction to mock the "childlike fascism" and "demented narcissism" of American liberals that helped put President Trump in the White House and left them facing "mental and emotional collapse."

For good measure, Ellis, 55, also denounces the "legacy media" in his new book "White" — originally due to be called "White Privileged Male" — describing it as "a moral disaster for the country" that had covered Trump in the 2016 with such bias and "absolute cluelessness" that it assisted him. The Washington Examiner obtained a copy in advance of its publication Tuesday.

Already facing a backlash from the liberal intelligentsia he disdains — a Q&A with the New Yorker was intensely hostile — Ellis has also been praised for his devil-may-care contrarianism. Interview Magazine described "White" as containing "searing points about how the national obsession with being liked at all costs and the silencing of opposing voices under the banner of inclusivity can create its own American hellscape."

Ozz 233pm - ScottO will speak for himself. But Rebane Doctrine maintains that any free market capitalist can take advantage of all profit opportunities supported by the laws of the land. Quite often the Left enacts laws that allow (unintended?) opportunities for profit. When that occurs the market will invite free and enterprising individuals to profit.

Friendly fire: “What we’re saying is, have a message that appeals to people in a way that does not menace them — that really does address their concerns. When we win and we have the White House and we have that, then we can expand our exuberances to some other things.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when asked about the “exuberance” of Democrats advocating socialism

Belly laugh of the week: “We have no taint of [anti-Semitism] in the Democratic Party, and just because they want to accuse somebody of that doesn’t mean … that we take that bait.” —Nancy Pelosi

Braying Jackass: “One of the ugly aftermaths of 9/11 that is too often ignored is the codified profiling of Muslim-Americans solely bc of their faith … to fear and suspect all Muslims due to the actions of terrorists is bigotry. Plain & simple.” —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responding to the criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s classification of the 9/11 Islamist attack as “some people did something” (“You are absolutely clueless when it comes to national security. I am a Muslim Imam, citizen of Australia/Iraq/Iran, and I enter the US without any problems; because I do so legally by declaring all my identities. Border Force don’t care about religion, they care about intentions.” —Imam Mohamad Tiwhidi)

Alpha Jackass: “Deep skepticism exists about the gov’t version of 9/11. Many experts — architects & engineers — say the World Trade Center Towers were destroyed in a controlled demolition.” —Nation of Islam Research Group, which in the same tweet claimed, “3,133 Scientists Back Ilhan Omar on 9/11.”

Non sequitur: “I think the reason we’re having this argument over socialism and capitalism is that capitalism has let a lot of people down.” —Mayor Pete Buttigieg (And socialism — or even “democratic capitalism,” the so-called system that Buttigieg clings to — lets everyone down.)

And last… “When you hear people criticizing Attorney General Barr, check and see how they reacted to Michael Avenatti. That will give you an idea how seriously to take them as judges of lawyers and the law.” —Brit Hume

In essence, Buttigieg is basically the “Morning Joe” candidate adored by highly-educated white liberals who have perfected the art of speaking for hours and “sounding smart” without saying anything of substance while making everyone who is taking part in the conversation feel “intelligent” at dinner parties and self-perpetuating conferences.

Yes, I knew exactly what you were complaining about. Playing in any key with lots of sharps or flats means youse gots to think about them notes that Cmajor doesn't touch. If you've not practiced F# major on an instrument that is tuned in C (like a standard well-tempered piano or a C trumpet) since a music teacher forced you to practice it 70 years ago, it's not going to be smooth. You won't be able to be "musical"... instead... you'll be fighting the damn thing trying not to sound like a beginner which, if you can't play a major key, is what you'll be tarred as.

With trumpets, we talk about fingerings being easier. But it's also that certain keys are easier to perform certain works because of, well, more than you want to hear about brass instrument playing from a whining brass instrumentalist.

Damn, I forgot... my two D trumpets also have slides for the key of Eb.

It's also a damn shame... when I was a kid thinking I might do this for a living, D trumpets were mostly for Baroque literature, but the picc in A lays down D concert in the key of F (one flat and really easy fingerings) making even one D trumpet in the closet too many :( But I was looking for a particular brand of trumpet in C... and a dying professional trumpeter in Sacramento was looking for good homes for his instruments... mostly Benges... he'd sold his Benge C that I wanted but he had a Benge D/Eb (in fact, the first D/Eb built by Benge) and I couldn't pass it up.

Ooooze at 2:33 - "So you are saying that it is fine with you for a representative of the right to support left wing ideas if he can personally profit from them?"
I see that Ooooze is picking up a bad habit from Paul.
Said no such thing, dude. I do believe you were the one to say he was smart.
So Ooooze - you'll be supporting Trump in the next election?
We can play this stupid game all day long.
And you'll lose every time. Your move, Oooze.

BT at 4:39 - Love that Booty-Judge remark. "I think the reason we’re having this argument over socialism and capitalism is that capitalism has let a lot of people down."
Typical statement from an educated idiot.
Capitalism isn't some sort of magic wand you wave over your head and then reach out with your hands and have manna rain down. Certainly no one in Venezuela feels let down!
And everyone in Sweden does a happy dance every single morning.
The man knows stupid in several languages. And he can play the piano! It used to be we just looked at the crease of the candidates slacks. My how times have changed.

Man O Man! the Muller report comes out in the morn'n....
In the coming weeks,,, there will be PLENTY of sewer rats taking the 5TH.
Will the might "O" be dragged into court? "Just what did you know, and when DID you know it?"
Yes Proggys,, "O" would have had to give his blessing to spy on the Trump campaign. Then again,, he just might throw his underlings under the bus. "I only know what was in the news"...

You guys will need a new supply of butthurt cream. Paul can apply it to OOzzz,, OOzzz can lather up Dougy.

The report — the general outlines of which the Justice Department has briefed the White House on — will reveal that Mueller decided he could not come to a conclusion on the question of obstruction because it was difficult to determine Trump’s intent and because some of his actions could be interpreted innocently, these people said

Gregory 517pm - "Playing in any key with lots of sharps or flats means youse gots to think about them notes that Cmajor doesn't touch." Just so that we're clear, playing any sufficiently modern (especially jazz) piece in Cmajor requires you to still touch ALL the keys - black and white. The chord progressions and improvisational additions cover the water front as far as fingering the black/white keys are concerned. I would like it if I had to remember only how an Ab dim with an added major 7th looks like relative to, say, Cmajor, instead of how it looks like relative to all the other 20+ major and minor keys. For rank amateurs who don't play that often, that is a hard task, especially if you're playing the lead with the Clavinova's 'boys in the band' accompanying you - those bastards don't slow down for you.

Early this year, U.S. Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, told Voice of America that the United States is “not winning” in Africa’s Sahel region, home to an al-Qaeda branch that is considered one of the wealthiest wings of the terrorist group due to its links to drug trafficking in Latin America.

Consider if you will Occam’s razor. Mueller could have issued his report without including any grand jury testimony or classified information, not to mention folks on the peripheral have no bearing or information related to the main thrust of the report.

Why would Mueller put things such as classified informational and grand jury testimony into his report knowing full well that the AG would have to redact those items by law and Justice Department guidance and practices?

Me thinks it is to smear Trump and politically embarrass him and anyone associated with him. A political document. Like the Carter Page and George the Greek indictments, there will page after page of things that appear fishy only to get to the last page to read he lied to the FBI about the date of a meeting with someone. Innuendos.

The LA Times had a article two-three days ago with a line that popped off the page at me. (Can’t report it cause my four free articles has reached the limit). It said that Barr, Justice Department lawyers, AND the Mueller team were going through the Mueller report word by word. Word by word and doing the redactions. But, it’s an inside job!!

The report tomorrow is designed to keep all the fakenews conspiracy theories going and to smear William Barr. I would not be surprised if Weismann wrote most of the report. Sure, there may be a couple of inconsequential stink bombs and a turd thrown in the swimming pool, but nothing to go with Russian interference in our elections, collusion of the Trump Campaign with foreign governments, and obstructing justice.

It will be fun watching the usual suspects, unhinged, liars, and news directors picking fuzz balls out of the carpet and magically connecting the dots. The sad part is eventually innocent lives (bystanders) will be uprooted and trashed as the witch-hunt continues on and on.

Consider if you will Occam’s razor. Mueller could have issued his report without including any grand jury testimony or classified information, not to mention folks on the peripheral have no bearing or information related to the main thrust of the report.

Why would Mueller put things such as classified informational and grand jury testimony into his report knowing full well that the AG would have to redact those items by law and Justice Department guidance and practices?

Me thinks it is to smear Trump and politically embarrass him and anyone associated with him. A political document. Like the Carter Page and George the Greek indictments, there will page after page of things that appear fishy only to get to the last page to read he lied to the FBI about the date of a meeting with someone. Innuendos.

The LA Times had a article two-three days ago with a line that popped off the page at me. (Can’t report it cause my four free articles has reached the limit). It said that Barr, Justice Department lawyers, AND the Mueller team were going through the Mueller report word by word. Word by word and doing the redactions. But, it’s an inside job!!

The report tomorrow is designed to keep all the fakenews conspiracy theories going and to smear William Barr. I would not be surprised if Weismann wrote most of the report. Sure, there may be a couple of inconsequential stink bombs and a turd thrown in the swimming pool, but nothing to go with Russian interference in our elections, collusion of the Trump Campaign with foreign governments, and obstructing justice.

It will be fun watching the usual suspects, unhinged, liars, and news directors picking fuzz balls out of the carpet and magically connecting the dots. The sad part is eventually innocent lives (bystanders) will be uprooted and trashed as the witch-hunt continues on and on.

That's a truly inspirational article. It brings tears to my rheumy old eyes.

“Of course when it came to healing the land, we had huge gaps in our knowledge,” Ocasio-Cortez says. “Luckily, indigenous communities offered generational expertise to help guide the way.”

I'm digging on the concept. We can help out clearing a bunch of forest with slash 'n burn agriculture and then begin operating the beef industry by running a herd of cattle off a cliff with our electric motorcycles. It'll be a carbon neutral and highly diverse future.

Of course, the population will have to be reduced by 90% first, but that'll go along with the Socialist Economic Apocalypse of 2035.

I do wonder what'll set the (D) candidates apart, as they'll have the same spiel.

I think that about covers it. Naturally, they'll all have their oppositions research people going full tilt for college age blackface highjinks and full time social media staff paid for by Monsanto, the banks, the Israelis, the Saudis, and 50 guys in an unmarked building in Saint Petersburg just to stir the pot.

“Now just to wait and see what the LIBS try and make up out of whole cloth.””

No need to wait. Morning Moe on DNCTV already said that Barr’s reputation is trashed....before the presser. They can only go downhill from there.

After more than two years, it has become so blatantly apparent that the media and the Dems are one and the same. I expected more of the Justice Department press corps than the White House press corps. Silly me. Their questions were embarrassing. If anyone was going the spinning, it was not Barr. It was the Democrat shrills. That one question the press babe shrill asked was word for word from Nadler last evening. Probably handed her a slip of paper as she entered the room. :). They are amazing in how despicable they are. All commies lie and murder. Lies and murder.

In prime time, the Food Channel beat CNN. The only American interference in the 2016 election was the lying and corrupt DNC apparatus.